Category: Garden

Well, I think I get to hang up the gloves for a while… at least when it comes to the raised beds.

I finished off building and filling the last two.
Now we just need to complete the last side of the garden fence and we have taken care of most of the major tasks. Its great having the extra room and I like the orderly (if slightly wonky) new beds.

The carrots are looking so great!
Lots of tomatoes hiding in this patch!

I actually took a lot of these seedlings out today – before they got too big and took over.

There are some really nice seedlings in here. I think I will put a number of them in the patch I cleared the other day up behind the rhubarb.

A number of my beetroot plants came up with two seedlings in one spot. I can only surmise I must have been drinking when planting the seeds!
Anyway, I dug up a number, separated them and replanted. The extras went into my new plot. And promptly fainted.

I am confident they will eventually perk up! (eep – I hope they do!!!)
The whole patch is now planted. Beetroot, a row of basil seeds, two rows of silverbeet (chard) and a couple of rows of the cos lettuce

It really doesn’t look exciting does it?? I do hope in a few weeks the updated photo will look a lot better
ooooo – and guess what I got in the mail?

A box of fabulous hand crafted ceramics from the one and only Mavis from One Hundred Dollars a Month!!!
Since I planted basil today I took the opportunity to mark the row in a more aesthetically pleasing way than a paddlepop stick with some pen scribble!
I have to get the herb garden tidied (and plant chives) so I can display the rest of the markers. There are also a few Christmas ornaments too so I am definitely putting up a tree this year!!
They look so amazing and I love them!!

The tomatoes from laterals are starting to look less wilted (yay)

And the L shaped patch! Actually I think I will be placing that big stump of wood in the crook of the L as an official place to sit and have lunch or a cuppa while I am working outside. I moved it a little bit since it was sitting in the way of this patch… yikes. Nearly did myself a mischief! Its insanely heavy. Best wait for Jeff to help me out there. (In the interests of me being able to walk again)
Anyway, I decided to give capsicum and eggplant a go in an outdoor garden since Tentacular has claimed most of the hothouse.

There are a few in the hothouse anyway, so will be interesting to see how they compare.

In this sideways H I have put rocket seed in.

At the lower corner I have put in marigold seeds and above right-ish I have planted cumin. No idea what to expect there. First time growing them

There is still a bit more space in this plot for something else if I think of that ‘something’
My list of food in the ground is actually now quite considerable.
I spent a lot of time watering everything, not to mention the covering up of so many plants as they get used to their new outdoors life.
Mind you, there is still lots to do, but apart from the last side of the fence, most of the critical stuff is done.

Hope your day has involved moving less bricks!!
Cheers

What is in the ground at our place?

Parsley (by the tonne!)
Oregano
Thyme
Lemon Balm
Rosemary
Cumin
Fennel
Basil
Zucchinis (4)
Strawberries
Cos lettuce
Snow peas
Tomatoes (everywhere)
Eggplant
Capsicum
Cucumber
Passionfruit
Chilli
Potatoes
Celery
Rhubarb
Corn
Asparagus
Beetroot
Carrot
Silverbeet (Chard)
Pumpkin (Large)
Butternut pumpkin
Watermelon
Rocket
Garlic
Raspberries
Plums
Apples
Cherries

Wow… I am a bit impressed actually! haha

G’day!! Quite a beautiful warm day out there today! A lot of it was spent running about moving ‘stuff’ for Jeff to get around the yard with the mower. I was also saving a lot of the clippings to use as mulch and in between doing other little tasks – like watering 🙂

We got ourselves down to the irrigation shop today to pick up three lengths of poly pipe to finally get those raspberries under cover!
Once the lawn was all trimmed back I banged in some steel droppers.

They make such a big beautiful frame!

There will be plenty of space for me under the netting this season!

We have resorted back to the original style of tent pegs and various lengths of timber to keep the netting down.
Happily the 10×10 metre net was absolutely perfect!

Even though the row on the right isn’t as fab looking as the left, there are still berries on the canes. I think they have done pretty well so far considering their move a couple of months back.

The chooks are another step closer to wider pastures! haha

While we had the trailer on, we stopped by the plant place and collected a load of topsoil/compost. I only got to finish filling this bed, but maybe tomorrow I will be able to plant something in it, then finish my L shaped bed!!

Well… thats me done for the day!
Cheers!

Hello!! My first lillium burst open!! Its a strange pale colour but still rather pretty!

I thought it was going to be all nice and sunny… so I went to tackle the wood pile… and it started to rain!

I didn’t really want to stack wet wood, so cooked up the chooks some spaghetti, since crook-chook still seems to like it.

Anticipation…

The newly planted corn seeds are up and looking sturdy quite quickly. I have a feeling I planted the others too early.

Later on in the evening it was really rather nice weather – I was going around watering my seedlings, then ended up on a bit of a weeding mission.

Reckon I could dig this up and think of something to plant here…

Anyway, its another couple of barrow loads of weeds not in my garden

I’ve had to replace a couple of these tomato plants. I suspect the blackbirds nipped a couple of them off and dug one up to boot!!
If it had of been a chicken or possum there would have been a lot more damage, so I am assuming blackbird!

Some of them are doing very well… and lucky I have PLENTY of extra tomato plants to replace everything twice over at least!

Putting the babies to bed!
The whole area is slowly taking shape but, as usual, things still need a lot of work. (And a thorough tidying up!!!)

Jeff has a couple of days off but not sure if we will get into finishing the fence or not. Will see how he shapes up and where his enthusiasm level lie!

I very very very very much need to sort out the netting… we nearly have pickable raspberries!! Mondays plan I think! (When the shop for the big polypipe is open)

Enjoy your weekend!!!
Cheers

These (above) plus Those (below) are destined for a milkshake. I think a perfect before bed snack…

Today the wind and rain quit howling and carrying on, so I abandoned inside domestics and played about outside.

I chose 8 of the best performing Black Russian tomato laterals to put in my new raised bed.

Probably slightly squashy but not too bad

I took the lower leaf off and planted them fairly deep.
Within an hour they were all looking so woebegone!!! Never mind. They usually perk up within a day or two (hopefully)

I was in the middle of planting some other tomatoes and a couple of new Jehovah Witness ladies turned up! The younger lady was all keen to give me a card with a number so I could call to find out more, (because I have so much spare time) but I forestalled her with ‘Sorry (yes I tend to appologise) but I don’t believe in the supernatural’
Surprisingly she gave right up on the spot and said ‘Oh ok, we’ll get out of your way then.’ So I kept them around for a bit longer to chat about gardens because thats what happens to people when they enter my space. 😀
Mind you, I sent them on their way with a big bunch of parsley and no hard feelings 😀
Anyway, back to my dirt!

I was pretty happy with my brick garden idea, so I made another one!
This one I filled with mostly my own compost and a bit of the post hole soil and topped with mushroom compost.

I wanted a space for some pumpkins… and because I like living on the edge – I am trying watermelons again!

I figure I can train them to grow and run about in the places I want them to go. We shall see…

I gave Tentacular a bit of a trim, watered some stuff, did random weeding, replaced a couple of the poorer performing yellow tomato seedlings and fed the chooks spaghetti.
Remember I said we had a chicken that wasn’t doing well? I have been trying to get her to eat for ages… she was just sitting about fluffed up, puts herself to bed about an hour before the other girls. She’s not so tame so won’t eat out of my hand and if I throw her special food she is so slow and ‘meh’ that the other greedy girls come and guff it. Separating her didn’t work either. I thought we might have to… you know.
Anyway… I found something she really goes for!! Spaghetti!! ?? So I cooked up a big pot, put in some stock for flavour and have been putting it all around and she actually runs to try to get in and snatch some. She’s not out of the woods yet, but its a definite improvement.
Tomorrow I need to cook up some more for them!

Last on my list was trimming the oregano and filling the net herb dryer!
Honestly… I picked so much and the patch doesn’t look at all like its been touched!

It can just hang there for a while and do its thing!
Anyway, I am thinking about that milkshake!!
Hope your week ends fantastically!!
Cheers

 

Funny weather. Yesterday was as gorgeous as the day before was miserable. Today it dove back into rain and cold! I ended up deciding I had no good excuses not to stay inside and attend to some housework. I suppose it has to be done sometime!

Tentacular is due for another trim. He just keeps getting wilder. At the moment he grabs my hair when I am walking about in the hothouse!
On the upside… seems to be lots of fruit which I am mega-excited about!

Lots are small and just starting but there are some good sized ones in there too!

Getting in and out of the hothouse is becoming more of a challenge!

Seeing a lot more flowers on the tomato plants… but no baby tomatoes as yet.

Both lots of laterals I had in a jar are doing rather well. Time to plant out!

I think I am seeing daily changes in the cucumbers too

This little plot is looking pretty good. I am hoping I have bought my last lettuce for the season… (Maybe?)

Also pleased to finally see some snow pea flowers!

Plenty of baby apples on the trees

The sunflower seeds that Emma planted the other day have popped up too!!

I took advantage of the sunshine yesterday to do a bit of a tidy up in the main garden. The corn I think is woefully slow. I might just be being impatient. Still, I gave it a good weeding.

I had left the second snow pea patch a bit long… the plants were a bit tangled in the net. Hopefully they will grab on to the rebar and get going again.
I weeded the rest of this patch (again!!) Still no idea what to do with all those self seeded tomatoes.

The celery is going to seed so I took a heap of stalks off to cut and freeze for later use.

At the end of the day I got a bee in my bonnet about making a new garden bed. I haven’t seen the fellow at the market for ages who I wanted to buy new beds off… so I thought I might make one out of bricks.
We got a load of free bricks an eon ago and they really haven’t been put to much use yet.

I didn’t quite finish the job as it was getting late in the day, but I need to put another barrow load of mushroom compost in it (at least). I used a lot of the soil that we dug up when digging post holes for the fence. (Lucky our topsoil is deep)
I have plans to put those laterals in here… Think I might be able to squeeze in eight of them!

The paper daisy plants I put in a while ago are looking really sweet!

Anyway, it sounds a bit wild out there but tomorrow could easily be a beautiful sunny day. Always the surprise here (especially if you don’t bother looking at the forecast!)
Have a lovely day everyone!
Cheers!

Another small and sweet handful! Reckon I should be able to make a strawberry milkshake tomorrow! mmmm
How was your weekend??
I was a bit domestic yesterday – time to start sorting out the neglected house bit by bit… before the next visitor arrives! (Yes, we have one more before the end of the year!!)

Well, the sun was shining, there was no wind so today we took the chance to get back to the garden fence and sort out side two!

We managed to muff up a few things – posts should have been a bit closer so it was a bit tricky fitting the siding on the way we wanted to… however, we got there in the end and I won’t point out the really wonky bits!

Will be so great to have gateways that fit the wheelbarrows!

Possum Artwork.

I am sore tonight but Jeff will be worse! He did the majority of the digging and cement mixing.

Our topsoil goes quite deep – so I am saving it to put into one of the new raised beds (when I get them that is) Amazing how much dirt comes out of a post hole!!

Its great to see the garden taking shape at last!!
The chooks will be especially pleased when they are let back out to a bigger area!

I think we have come a long way since that tree fell on the garden!

Time to go fall into bed!
Hope your weekend was wonderful!
Cheers!

Friday!! Can’t believe we’ve stampeded through another week!
This morning I put Emma onto a plane 🙁 as she flew home to warmer climates! Was lovely having her here the extra couple of weeks! Bonus!

Since I was awake, I got outside and worked my way through a list of garden tasks.

First up I decided that the cabbage patch would be a good spot for my butternut pumpkins. Not so much weeding to do since the seaweed kept the main weeds from running amok!

Lots of nice fat worms everywhere!

Because I was trying to be frugal with my mushroom compost, I haven’t covered the entire plot. Just dug a hole where each seedling was to be planted and filled with a generous amount of it.

Nine is a good start…

They got a good watering then covered for the evening.

I am still in love with my garlic this season 🙂
Got in with the snippy things and took all the scapes off the purple early garlic – Thanks to Elizabeth from Upstate NY for mentioning it to me last season about taking the scapes off for better bulb production! I hadn’t known!

I left one cabbage to continue to flower. They were such nice cabbages I’d like to get the seed from them.

Jeff did a fabulous job weeding this bit the other day. I have now turned it into the second corn patch. The first one is going soooo slow!

Apparently you can transplant potatoes… 😀  (I honestly didn’t think it would appreciate being moved at all!!)

Speaking of potatoes… time to weed the main patch!

Still no seaweed, so no mulch yet! 🙁

I fed the raspberries some of my kelp juice today – they are just humming! So good to see bees everywhere!

The Euro-Plum seems to be doing well… fruit still attached so thats a positive!
And the cherry plums! Wow… just a crazy amount of fruit there!

Checked out the laterals that I popped in the water 10 days ago! Roots everywhere! (Now to find a new tomato plot!)

I finished up the day by going over to the Dark Side and putting some snail bait around the strawberries. I have been hand picking slugs and snails at night – that are incidentally crawling straight over the crushed eggshell to guts the fruit!! Time… just didn’t want to spend the time working out other methods right now.
Anyway, guilt factor aside, I hope there are lots of slimy things out there writhing in their death throes!!

I did a lot of watering today too.
Emma planted sunflowers, marigolds and some other surprise flower seeds for me, so they will be fun to watch pop up! Just got to keep them watered!
Watering could become a full time job over summer! Maybe its time to learn how to install a watering system?? Got all the bits and bobs… just have to DO it!

Hope you have a fabulous weekend planned!
Cheers!

Hello!
Picked a few things for the slow cooked beef casserole I did for dinner. Mostly herbs and celery! (I did have some pre cooked tomatoes and veggies I had leftover from last season, so that was nice)

I spent a bit of the morning doing kitchen stuff, then went shopping and also picked up my new load of mushroom compost! Time to get some more garden beds happening. I was a bit sad to pull the potatoes out of here… I gave one a new home… dunno if it will take or not but I am sure I will soon see!!

Also found a few potatoes, but I am thinking they are not new…

Funny and a little bit annoying as I dug this plot to an inch of its life looking for potatoes!! How could I have possibly missed all these???

Even though the tomato seedlings that I am trying to grow are still tiny, (they really seem to have stagnated in their pots) I decided to plant them out and see how they go. Half the plot are yellow tomatoes and the other half beefsteak.

I might have crowded the yellow tomatoes, but we will see how they all go.

As I am sitting here (well past midnight) I hear rain beginning to fall!! It was cloudy all day but not cold. We didn’t even light the fire tonight!
Anyway, covered up all the tiny tomatoes and hope they survive.

This was going to be for beans. Then I thought it was too good so I changed my mind. More tomatoes! Jeff mowed today so I outlined the whole narrow area with more newspaper and topped with grass clippings. Trying to keep the weeds down. Or at least away from my garden.

I put one of the lengths of timber on the lower side to help stop runoff of the dirt. I added more soil from one of the other gardens and topped it off with the mushroom compost. Then I dug up a number of self seeded tomatoes and planted them in.

Covered – um… I only just noticed I missed one!!!
Then put in a chook-resistant barrier. (Hopefully)
The two poles at either end of this plot should be handy for when it comes to rigging up something to stake tomatoes to.

Jeff got well into this spot with weeding today. I want to use it to plant my second lot of corn. The first lot is pretty slow. But then again, it hasn’t been that warm over the past couple of weeks!

Eep. Poor neglected raspberries. At least there are a lot of flowers. I made a bit of a start with them, I am hand weeding in the middle as I wanted to save some of the canes that are popping up everywhere!
Still waiting for that big dump of seaweed so I can get in and mulch the living daylights out of it all.
I ran clothes line wire down both sides to give them a bit of support in the wind.

Lots of flowers and even fruit starting to show.

This makes me both happy and slightly panicky as we have to get on to the whole netting business!! (you know, after the fence is done)

Speaking of fruit… cherry plums everywhere!!

I might have to say I still smell like mushroom compost! Happily Jeff is already sleeping so maybe he won’t notice and I won’t get kicked out of bed haha (Really… I did shower and scrub a LOT)

Have a wonderful day!
Cheers!

I make an effort to concentrate and remember eating my strawberries now.
😀
Well! Today I planted two things! Yay me.

To be fair to myself… I did start with the above mess.

I dug in some old mushroom compost that I found in a bag and some of my newer home made compost. (I really really really need to go get another trailer load of fresh stuff)

I got my bargain bin tomatoes and snicked off the lower leaves

I planted them reasonably deep so they have a chance to grow more roots and anchor themselves in well.

I also grabbed some of the rebar and shadecloth to make a sheltered area while they are finding their feet.

In the hothouse I had a ‘proud mummy moment’ when I saw that the capsicum had developed new leaves since yesterday!

The cucumber are also starting to make a small move in the leaf direction!

The passionfruit just keeps growing!

Still new flowers appearing!

Discovered more tomato seedlings in my flower bed (of course)

And in the carrot patch…

The two Black Russian tomato plants in the hothouse are going fantastically.

Snow peas and lettuce are zooming along.

Baby Apples!

The zucchinis are hardly fitting under their bottle shelters now. Almost time to let them just be free! Plus its warming up again so maybe we are good.

I have heard a rumour that it is supposed to be a nice day tomorrow. Jeff has casually tossed the idea around that he might be mowing the lawn. I am going to be right behind him gathering the clippings for mulch as I still have no straw or seaweed available and I am getting desperate!
I will finish my night by writing a list of things in the garden I hope to get done tomorrow.
We shall see!! 🙂
Have a great day!
Cheers

My paper daisy plants have their first tiny flower!!